Welcome

Welcome to the POZ/AIDSmeds Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and
others concerned about HIV/AIDS. Click on the links below to browse our various forums; scroll down for a glance at the most recent posts; or join in the
conversation yourself by registering on the left side of this page.

Privacy Warning: Please realize that these forums are open to all, and are fully searchable via Google and other search engines. If you are HIV positive
and disclose this in our forums, then it is almost the same thing as telling the whole world (or at least the World Wide Web). If this concerns you, then do not use a
username or avatar that are self-identifying in any way. We do not allow the deletion of anything you post in these forums, so think before you post.

The information shared in these forums, by moderators and members, is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between an individual and his/her own
physician.

All members of these forums are, by default, not considered to be licensed medical providers. If otherwise, users must clearly define themselves as such.

Forums members must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Posting guidelines, including time-out and banning policies, have been established by the moderators
of these forums. Click here for “Am I Infected?” posting guidelines. Click here for posting guidelines pertaining to all other POZ/AIDSmeds community forums.

We ask all forums members to provide references for health/medical/scientific information they provide, when it is not a personal experience being discussed. Please
provide hyperlinks with full URLs or full citations of published works not available via the Internet. Additionally, all forums members must post information which are
true and correct to their knowledge.

Author
Topic: 1 year later (Read 3171 times)

Well guys it's been 1 year now since I found I'm positive and 1 year since I started HAART. First of all I wanted to say thank you, this forum has been a tremendous help to me. I do not know personally any one who's HIV+ (that I know of, I probably know some) so this has been my only outlet for my concerns.

Above all, this forum is important because of the amount of information available. I learned so much from reading posts and discussing with some of you. I learned much more than I would with my doctor or by reading random articles online.

Has my life changed? Not really. Not because of HIV. I'm still doing the same things, still worried about the same things, still hanging with my friends, still drinking, still having sex (strictly on the safe side, of course) and I do not worry about the future. What matters is the present, period. And, for now, I'm perfectly healthy, both in body and mind.

Quick update: I do not have all my exams with me but I started HAART in August 2011 after a nasty case of pneumonia. CD4 was 290, VL was 17,000. Doc told me to wait a month to see if my CD4 would go up without any meds. Nope, 30 days later and CD4 went to 260. Time for HAART.

Doc put me on Atazanavir+3TC+Tenofovir. Effavirenz was a no because of resistance. After 2 months VL was not UND yet (and he believed that, me being young with a low VL that should have happened already) so he decided that it would be best to include Norvir to boost the Atazanavir. Then some mild jaundice began.

Latest test in July 2012: CD4 351, 21% and UND. Great news!

So today I took a big step and decided to switch Atazanavir for Fozamprenavir. My bilirubin is always sky high and my eyes never went back to being completely white. And my doctor said that, by the looks of it, this situation was not gonna get better, I'd have to deal with the jaundice maybe forever. It's a very small side effect, I know, and I would not be complaining about it if there was no other way. Better than having constant diarrhea like some people who are under different meds.

Anyway, I asked him if he would be against the switch and he said not at all because, beind UND, he said there was some flexibility in switching meds.

As for side effects, he said one possible side effect of Fozamprenavir is increase in cholesterol levels but well, I try to eat as healthy as possible and never had a problem with that. I will be keeping an eye on my future blood tests to see how it goes.

With that said...I wanted to give a special thanks to Ann, Joe and Leatherman, for your kind words and some tough love that is necessary at times.

Rockin; Thank you for your post -- as a "newbee" I hear that life doesn't change that much, but it really helps to get that confirmation from others. Like you, this is my source and connection (for now at least).

Rockin; Thank you for your post -- as a "newbee" I hear that life doesn't change that much, but it really helps to get that confirmation from others. Like you, this is my source and connection (for now at least).

Thanks again, and I wish you many more healthy anniversaries,

JM

That's the reason I decided to create this thread...to show that life doesn't necessarily have to change that much because of it, even though I know it's not like that to some people.

so you decided to switch to stop the jaundice? Well, that's good really. It was stressing your liver. And it's not like there weren't other meds to go to. Heck in a worst-case end-of-the-world scenario you could even switch back, if necessary.

Before you know it, you'll be posting "year #5", then "year #10"!Happy HIVaversary and here's to many more!

so you decided to switch to stop the jaundice? Well, that's good really. It was stressing your liver. And it's not like there weren't other meds to go to. Heck in a worst-case end-of-the-world scenario you could even switch back, if necessary.

Before you know it, you'll be posting "year #5", then "year #10"!Happy HIVaversary and here's to many more!

BTW I also started to take Hep B vaccine. I know, bad bad boy me, never took it before. Got tested for it a while back and it came negative but I decided to not take any chances.

Hey Leather, I posted on another thread something about oral HPV and I'm actually quite concerned about it because I know it's becoming a very common thing. Is there any way to get tested for it?

after having teh aids for nigh onto 20 yrs, it wasn't until 2 yrs ago when I moved back home (from OH to SC) that my new (and first ever!) ASO vaccinated me for all sorts of stuff. It seemed like every time I went in they wanted to prick me for something (and not prick me in the nice way LOL) I had the hepB way back though (how I miss the early 80s ), so it was too late for that; but after having PCP a couple of times, and pneumonia a couple of times, I was glad for the pneunomvax. Lockjaw doesn't sound really nice for a lot of reasons, so I'm glad I got a tetanus booster too.

As far as I know right now the only approved HPV tests on the market are for screening women for cervical cancer. HPV is one of those tricky bugs. A lot of people have it, a lot of people clear it, a lot of people never have issues with it - and a lot of people have problems. If you're under 26 and male (those are the current recommendations), you can get the vaccination though and that should help.

after having teh aids for nigh onto 20 yrs, it wasn't until 2 yrs ago when I moved back home (from OH to SC) that my new (and first ever!) ASO vaccinated me for all sorts of stuff. It seemed like every time I went in they wanted to prick me for something (and not prick me in the nice way LOL) I had the hepB way back though (how I miss the early 80s ), so it was too late for that; but after having PCP a couple of times, and pneumonia a couple of times, I was glad for the pneunomvax. Lockjaw doesn't sound really nice for a lot of reasons, so I'm glad I got a tetanus booster too.

My doc also recommended the pneunomvax but I'll have to go to another hospital for that. But I'll do it, the less concern, the better.

As far as I know right now the only approved HPV tests on the market are for screening women for cervical cancer. HPV is one of those tricky bugs. A lot of people have it, a lot of people clear it, a lot of people never have issues with it - and a lot of people have problems. If you're under 26 and male (those are the current recommendations), you can get the vaccination though and that should help.

Oh well, I'm over 26...so there's no way of knowing if I have oral HPV unless the warts start to show up, is that it?

Im over 26 (almost 40) and got vaccinated for HPV this year. My doc who is treating me for an HPV infection recommended it. Also, I have never had warts, I wouldnt have known there was a problem except my clinic does yearly pap's and HRA 's to check for it. Not all strains of HPV cause warts, in fact the strains that cause cancer do not cause warts.

There are over 200 different kinds of HPV but only about 20 or so commonly infect the genital region. HPV types 6 and 11 cause genital warts. Since warts do not usually progress to cancer, HPV 6 and 11 are considered to be "low-risk of cancer" HPV types. They are also called "non-oncogenic," meaning non-cancer-causing.

On the other hand, there are a variety of "high-risk," or oncogenic (cancer-causing) HPV types that also infect the anal canal. The most common of these is HPV type 16.

---my only point in my comment is really that people shouldn't assume that ssince they don't have warts that they are in the clear when it comes to HPV. I've never had warts and it turned out I had high grade dysplasia that is becoming more difficult to treat. Everyone should be having a anal pap and high resolution Anoscopy at least yearly.